


Interlude 1

by Celticas



Series: Hidden Valkyrie [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: But sorta not, Gen, Jotunn | Frost Giant, Not Thor: Ragnarok (2017) Compliant, Odin (Marvel)'s A+ Parenting, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-07 08:35:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15904719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celticas/pseuds/Celticas
Summary: With great power comes great responsibility. Unfortunately sometimes that means choosing between being a good father and a great leader. Odin never wanted to have to make that choice but the Norns were to be obeyed.*Can be read as a stand alone.*





	1. A Great Leader

**Author's Note:**

> So this was meant to be a one-shot that was about the length of this first chapter. Obviously that didn't happen.

The people of Asgard waited.

They waited for their King to return from Jotunheim where he fought to finally repel the frost giants who had so terrorised the other seven realms. They waited for their Queen to come out of confinement. They waited for word on whether the Realm had a new Prince or Princess, whether young Thor had a brother or sister.

The kingdom held it's breath.

Odin had been away for eight long weeks when he and his warriors returned in triumph. They swept up the rainbow bridge in celebration, pommels thumping a steady rhythm against shields spiderwebbed with damage from the Frost Giants ice. Their voices rose in song. A churning, swirl of sound and laughter and cheer. Odin rode proud and straight backed in the middle of the happy mayhem. A single point of stillness within the chaos of their return.

The column marched through a rain of petals, each warrior peeling off as family members pulled them from formation to be swallowed in embraces and checks of continued health. By the final incline to the palace, only Odin, his royal guards, and the wagons of weirgold remained. As the first man reached the bottom of the palace stairs, he swung left, his partner swinging right. The two lines of men splitting to allow Odin himself to meet his son and heir who waited on the bottom step alone but for his nurse maid.

With a small smile, Odin swung off his mount and met his boy. Pulling his child in close with one arm, Odin lifted Thor on to his hip. Soon the child would be too big and prideful to accept being held thus, but for now he was simply happy to hold his father close.

"Thor, where be thy Mother?" Odin began mounting the steps to home.

The young boy, barely older than a toddler, lay his golden head on his father's broad shoulder. "I have not seen mother for some time."

Odin looked back at the maid, the question clear on his face.

"Her majesty has been in confinement for six weeks. The child was born on time and hale. She will return to us in two weeks." The maid received a regal nod in return.

"Thor, I must speak with thy mother. Go with the maid." Odin spoke softly to the boy on his arm before handing him off.

As he made his way through the sprawling, golden palace advisers came and went in the court’s intricate dance of policy and hierarchy. Those state matters that had been left unseen during the final conflict now having a chance to be seen to. At his wife’s door Odin shook of the last man with orders to begin distributing the weirgold to those families that had lost loved one.

~

"Frigga?" Odin pushed through the tall doors guarding his wife's chambers. The room beyond was dark and still except for a rustling from the bed. Odin advanced to see his wife dozing with a small figure held close to her breast.

Old Asgardian tradition said that a mother should retreat from the world the month before the arrival of a child and should not return until a month after the birth. The confinement allowed for the best health of mother and child. No announcements of name or gender were to be made until their return, to allow for certainty that the new born was hale and would survive. They were old traditions from a time where medical care was not as good. Many among the other classes no longer followed the practice, however the fate of Royal new borns were such that they continued the two months of solitude. For which Odin was doubly grateful.

"My Queen?" Odin settled himself on the edge of the bed, waiting for Frigga to awaken.

"Husband?" Tightening her hold in the small bundle on her chest, she turned to face him. "When did you return?"

"Only now. I would speak with you on a matter of greatest urgency." He held out a hand to assist her in rising. "We succeeded in subduing the Jotunn. However, I have returned with a foundling. He is the child of Laufey. The Norn spoke to me. We must raise him as our own."

Frigga listened as her husband spoke, a frown marring her beautiful face. She, more than even her husband, knew the waves that rippled out into reality whenever the Norn spoke. Even with her foresight she could not see where these ripples would end, the changes they would cause.

Odin flipped open the edge of his cloak that had been wrapped around his right arm, showing an infant, newly born and only covered by Odin's cloak. The child turned his head at the sudden light and looked at Frigga, his bright blue eyes gazing back at her. Instantly her heart was caught.

"We shall do as they ask. He shall be as a brother to Thor and this new one." Frigga moved her own bundle of child from her chest and pulled its soft wrappings away. Showing her husband their daughter for the first time. "All but us and the healer shall believe we had twins. A princess and prince to grace the realm with."

Odin reached out and ran a gentle finger down his daughter's cheek. "She is a beautiful as her mother. Has she a name?" He looked at his wife.

"Var. And Laufeyson? Does he have a name yet?" Frigga pulled Var back in close when the infant started to fuss.

"Loki. And the name Laufeyson can never again be spoken." The command that Odin wielded as the King of Asgard cracked across the room. It was not often that he used it with Frigga but in this he _would_ be obeyed.

"Of course." Frigga bowed her head in understanding. If the Norns wished for this child to be as theirs, it would be so.

The newly expanded family settled together in the large bed. Sitting close together as those first threads of family began to be woven.

~

The new twins were as night and day and as inseparable. Their first steps were towards each other. Var's brightest smiles were kept for her brothers, Loki's quiet watchfulness followed Thor and Var through their days and Thor's protection lay as a safety blanket over his younger siblings. Thor already held the heart of the people, which only grew to encompass his brother and sister. As they grew the twins could often be found curled together, their sun gold and winter black heads bent together over their lessons on the edge of the training grounds where they could watch Thor at his lessons and he could in turn protect them from threats that were not there.

As they grew in stature, they also grew in power. Both learnt weapons with the Royal Guard, but their hearts and minds truly prospered under the tutelage of their mother. The knowledge they revelled in was that of magic and language, politics and history.  

They learnt their lessons well.

~

As they approached the birthday that marked their majority, both twins began to retreat into their own minds. They spent less time with Thor on the battle training grounds, and more hidden away in the quiet green corners of the royal gardens. For long hours, and days, the twins discussed the rituals that would mark their passage from childhood into adults.

What names would Yggdrasil bestow upon them? What fates had the Norns foreseen?

The day before the celebrations broke clear and warm. The sun throwing golden banners across in the heavens as if in preparations for the festival events that were to come.

Var stood wrapped in a soft lilac blanket on her balcony as the city below her awoke. She stood and watched as the bakers threw open their windows to release the smell of yeast, and warmth, and home. She allowed her mind to drift on the possibilities that would be presented to her this night. What was her fate? Was she to be a warrior as her older brother had grown into or would she follow her beloved twin’s obvious fate into a more studious life, was her fate to follow her mother’s steps into foresight and advantageous marriage, or would she be as her father and walk every path as easily as a fish swims downstream?

Any path she saw before her, someone else close to her would have already walked it. There was nothing on Asgard that was truly hers alone. As close as she held Loki to her heart she had not told him her greatest fear, that there was nothing beyond this night’s trials for her.

 

For hours she stood and drifted as the palaces stirred at her back. It was close to the noon hour before she was missed. Loki striding through her doors calling her name.

“I am here brother.” Var called back.

“Var! Why do you stay hidden in your room this day? Come and see the preparations being made for tomorrow.” Loki joined her looking out across the Spires and Halls of their people.

She turned and smiled at her brother’s enthusiasm. “Are the preparations the only thing you wish for me to see, or is Thor’s bout with Tyr what has truly captured your interest?” Their older brother had been trying to beat the Captain of the Royal Guard at weapons play for the season. He was not yet even close.

“No.” Loki sniffed disdainfully in response.

Var laughed, seeing through Loki’s attempts to lie to her. She was the only one who he had never been able to bluff. With his interruption she was able to throw off her black thoughts. “Come on then, let us see if today is the day our brother triumphs.” She turned and made her way back into her spacious rooms. The midday sun caused the gold and lavender accents to glitter and spark, causing the room to look warmer and more inviting than any space that size should.

The twins wound their way through the palace hallways. Talking easily as they nodded to the servants, court officials, and gentry they passed. The only people they did not greet were the guards standing at each intersection, the heavily armoured men and women were there to do a job and were not to be disturbed while on duty. Once off however they were among the twins favourite people, with their stories of great battles and the lands they had travelled during their service.

As they once again emerged into the bright sunlight, they could hear the shouts and jeers of the training warriors. Soaring over the general hubbub was the slightly higher, not quite mature voice of their older brother.

“Captain Tyr! Today will be the day you fall to my sword!” Thor called with a laugh.

Var and Loki broke through the last ring of bystanders as the Captain called back.

“If a mere boy is able to be victorious over me it shall also be the day I resign my commission. However, I believe Asger will not be made Captain just yet.”

The sounds of clashing metal and wood set a ringing undertone to the banter. The crowd watched as the two warriors circled each other. Sharp eyes waiting for an opening in the other’s movements, finally seeing a slight hesitation Tyr’s sword flashed into furious movement, so fast that only Aesir had hope of seeing the blades arc. A second flash of metal was Thor’s own weapon spinning into the sand at the edge of the practice arena.

A second of stunned silence descended across the gathering, before Thor burst into loud happy laughter. “It appears that you were right Captain, Asger has nothing yet to fear from more responsibility.” He bowed to the victorious warrior.

Tyr clapped the younger man on the shoulder. “One day soon, that may no longer be true. You are improving my Prince.”

Thor turned to step off the training field and spotted his younger siblings. “Loki! Var! Why do you stand around and gawk! I imagine mother must have a list as long as my arm of things that must be done before tonight. Come, let us find her together.” As he spoke he caught the look of apprehension on his sister’s face. Throwing a large arm around his slimmer brother and sister, he drew them away from the crowd. “There is nothing to fear from the rituals. They are a formality.” He spoke softly as the three royal children entered the shadows of the palace’s family wing.

“Are they though?” The words burst from Var’s lips as she pulled away from the boys.

Loki and Thor frowned at each other, they had both noticed her growing distance from them and were worried.

“All knew the out come of your naming Thor. Mjolnir was your birthright. Similarly, Loki’s pen chance for mischief and illusions is apparent. But what of me? I am the forgotten one! I stand in Thor’s shadow as a warrior and Loki your mind will always shine brighter than mine.” The words tumbled out now that they had been released. She turned away, ashamed of her outburst. “I am sorry. I do not wish for either of you to not be your best.” Her eyes were tear filled when she looked back at them. “I just wish I knew what my destiny was.”

“Var, sister. You are the best of us. You see the truth and kindness in all, no matter their place in the world.” Thor drew her close. “You shall see. I was as conflicted before my naming. You say that Mjolnir was my birthright, and that may have been obvious to you but it was not so to anyone else. Just as you saw the truth in Vigdris last month when she said she did not steal from her master.”

“As much as it pains me to say, Thor is right sister. You see the truth in people just as easily as I lie to them.” Loki bumped his shoulder against hers. “Now come. Thor is also not wrong when he said mother would have tasks for us.”

The three siblings parted ways, Var and Loki to find Frigga, and Thor to return to his quarters and prepare for the nights events.

~

The ceremonies started at sundown.

The twins were led into the vast Hall in the centre of the city’s religious precinct. A cold, echoing chamber of rough cut stone made up the bulk of the building. It had been a long time since the building was used for anything other than Name Day ceremonies and had been spared the gilding that much of the city had succumbed to during the end of Bor’s and the start of Odin’s reigns. Other than the night and day siblings, a single priestess in simple white cotton was the only other person who would witness the rituals and sacrifices that would be made that night.

With slow steps the trio advanced further through the empty building, the echoes of their steps a soft counterpoint to the thump of their footfalls. Half way between the hulking oak doors and the shining marble alter stone, the priestess began to chant. Haunting words in a tongue so old the Allspeak was not able to translate the words. A swaying, low sound that reminded Var of wind sweeping through fresh spring leaves.  

The chant grew in power and volume as they reached the gleaming alter. On their last step the priestess threw her arms out wide, igniting the tall white candles that stood sentry in a semi-circle along the Hall’s back wall.

“Yggdrasil! Thou art called!” The priestess shouted. “Thou art called to sit in judgement and name those who stand before you!” As she finished calling out, the priestess bowed deeply to the painting of the sacred tree that twinned up the back wall.

Loki stepped forward first as the older of the twins, “Yggdrasil! I beseech thee, find me not wanting. Show me my place in the great weaving of life.” He fell to his knees, head bowed, where he would stay until midnight.

Var stepped up beside her brother and repeated the ritual words and movements. Their words bouncing and being distorted by the stone of the building. The last echo faded into memory. In a single movement the priestess straightened and continued forward until she was standing on the alter stone and then turned to watch over the twins. Yggdrasil would use her eyes to view the children knelt before it.

Long hours were spent in stillness and silence. The stars moved slowly across the heavens above them while the Kingdom once again held its breath.


	2. Part 2

Midnight was met with a silver-white light blooming from the painting of Yggdrasil. Long ribbons of living light reached into the dim room. They quickly over whelmed the soft flames of the candles. At the first brush of the light on her skin, the priestess shuddered and stood even taller. Her form rising slightly, such that only the toes of her shoes brushed the ground. The light seemed to solidify into a river of silver between the painting and the Aesir.

“Loki. Step forward to be judged.” The words came from the priestess, although her mouth did not move. The words were spoken with her voice, but also that of a hundred, or a thousand others.

The young prince climbed slowly to his fee and stepped in front of the floating form.

Var could hear the soft murmur of conversation between her brother and the possessed priestess. Even kneeling so close to them it was if they the words were coming from a great distance in a tongue she had never encountered. The words that were exchanged were for them alone. With her head still bowed she could not even see how her twin fared.

The conversation between Loki and the embodiment of Yggdrasil continued for long enough that Var had retreated back into her own mind. Turning possible futures over in her head. She thought about the assurances that her brothers had given to her what felt like lifetimes but was only hours, ago. She considered whether she could follow her mother’s footsteps into a marriage of alliance, even if Frigga was lucky enough to find love within a political match. She played out the idea of following Thor into battle in defence of their home or on far flung worlds.

Nothing Var considered appealed to her. What would the tree of life see when it looked into her past and future? Because Var could only see a future as dark as her past was light.

Finally, Loki stumbled back. Her normally unflappable brother was breathing harshly. Long, deliberate breaths in, followed by a shorter, shaky exhalation. As if he was struggling to control wildly swinging emotions.

The air itself seemed to shift as he bowed to the figure that still hovered above the alter and tried to not obviously flee the cavernous room. The heavy wooden doors boomed loudly behind Loki as he exited the temple.

There was silence, where normally the creak of old wood shifting, and cooling would echo. The only illumination was from the silver river of light that still connected the priestess to Yggdrasil.

Var kept her eyes focused on the rough-hewn blocks of sandstone that made up the floor. She could feel the consciousness of the tree of life observing her for a long time. Longer than it should have. Var should have been called forward to converse with Yggdrasil by now. Something was wrong. Var could feel her breathing become short, and tears prick her eyes. It was as she had feared, there was no path forward for her. Would she spend the rest of her days knelt here on these cold unforgiving stones? Was she to live the remainder of her life with the unsettling feeling for an all-knowing spirit watching her?

The sun was bringing a rose-gold tint to the eastern horizon when the voices of Yggdrasil finally called out. “Var. Step forward to be judged.”

The princess stumbled upright. Pins and needles stabbing her feet from the long, motionless hours. Once she was in front of the softly glowing form of the priestess, the multi-layered voice began to speak again. “Thou art troubled daughter.”

Var nodded in agreement. She did not feel that words were needed.

“Thou canst see the truth in others, but not in thyself. Thou see where they art going, but thy own path is clouded from thy sight.” Yggdrasil continued.

“How can I see a path that is not there?” Var managed to hold back the sob that threatened to crack her words.

“Because thee look only at those realms that art open to Asgard. Not at all the worlds that are out there.” The priestesses mouth moved although it was obvious the words were not coming from her.

“I don’t understand? How can my path be outside of the nine realms?” Var felt as if the _light_ was shining a little bit more kindly, it was an odd sensation.

“Thy path is within the nine realms, however there are forces at play that will direct thy steps that are not. As thee begin thy journey, thy sight will clear for thou art _Truth Seer._ ” The last two words cracked like lighting, their accompanying thunder rolling out into the universe. The first step of Var’s path had been taken.

The princess stumbled back, her eyesight flashing white as her eyes burnt. She moved further away from the figure on the alter that was beginning to lose the light that had infused it for the long hours of the night. As Var stood trembling the priestess slumped to the hard-cold stone of the alter, drained from channeling a force greater than any single person could contain.

Var quickly bowed and left. Her mind racing with the conversation that had set her life-path but made little sense to her. She pushed through the heavy wooden doors that she had entered through what felt like a lifetime ago. Outside, in the clear dawn, a detachment of the royal guard stood at attention, waiting to accompany her back to the palace to rest before the celebration of the royal twins entry into adulthood that night.

The warmth of the rising sun was not enough to chase away the chill that had settled deep in Var’s heart. She may not have understood most of what had transpired within the Great Hall, but what she had understood was enough for her to know her life was about to veer sharply out of her control, and soon. Having been born a female into the Royal house of Asgard, she had never had much control over her life, but she could feel the little she had slipping through her fingers.

Var completed the dawn ride back to the palace in contemplative silence. The guards riding with her left her to her thoughts, for which she was thankful. They all knew how unsettling the naming ceremony could be. It was a quiet column of horses and people that rode under the towering archway into one of the palace’s smaller entry courtyards. The loud bustle of servants moving abut their early morning chores was enough to cover the metal on leather clank of tack and the cleaner ring of metal on metal of the guard’s armour as they dismounted. Var only made a move to dismount when Ysil, her made, lay a hand on the princess’ leg.

“Come my lady, thou should try and rest before tonight’s festivities.”

Var nodded absently while dismounting. Without uttering a word, she made her way to the family wing of the building, Ysil following in her wake. The gold detailing on the pillars and ceiling of the wide, airy space was burnished bronze by the early morning light. Muscle memory directed her steps automatically down the hallways that lead to her room. Turning the final corner, the sight of her brothers waiting outside her quarters was not a surprise, however Loki’s altered appearance was enough to jolt her out of her reverie.

Loki was slumped, exhausted on the floor and even in the golden sunlight his skin was the colour of glacial ice. Var stood and stared at her twin as Thor pushed away from where he had been casually leaning against the wall.

“Sister! Thou art returned!” The large blonde called out happily. “Although, you were absent for far longer than we had anticipated. Did all go well?” His tone softened, turning more thoughtful than most people would think the Crown Prince would be capable of.

The words barely registered in Var’s hearing. “Loki art thou well?” She spoke over the end of Thor’s sentence.

“Of course, sister. Just tired.” Loki finally looked up at them, a tired but content smile gracing his features.

As she took a step forward, a flash of brilliant white light blinded her. It took a long ten seconds to link her eyes clear, to find a robed figure standing in the hall and her brothers frozen in place.

“Who, who art thou?” Var tripped over her words. She did not recognise the woman half hidden by the shadows of the thick brown robe twisted around her figure. No one who gained access to the palace should be a stranger to the princess.

“I am Veroandi.” The woman’s voice was as clear as the most expensive cut crystal.

Var recognised the name. Veroandi had been one of her mother’s teachers, one of the legendary Norn. Var had never met any of the mystical women who only rarely left their monastery on Nornheim, the most seldom visited and hardest to access of the realms.

“My lady.” The princess swept a deep curtsy and kept the position.

“Daughter, the answers you seek can not be gained from thy brother. To ask for them will only bring disaster.” With her warning delivered, and without waiting for a response, Veroandi disappeared in a second flash of light. Leaving Var awkwardly braced in the middle of the hallway, her brother’s looking at her askance.

She straightened, trying to hide the movement as an effort to straighten her wrinkled dress. The boys shot a look at each other as if asking ‘ _Girls, what can you do?’._ Var tried to remember what had been happening before the mystical visitor had arrived. Right, Loki.

“If thou art that tired, maybe it would serve thee well to retire?” She quirked an eyebrow at him.

The younger of her brothers pushed himself away and up until he was standing unsteadily on his feet. “Thou art right. I bid thee both good night.” He shot a look at the early morning light streaming in the window at the end of the hall. “Or good morning.” Without waiting for a response, he turned and pushed through into his own set of room that were opposite Var’s own.

Var turned to Thor. “I shall also retire.” She pushed onto her toes, kissed him on the cheek and slipped into her own opulent suite. Once her door was closed behind her, she lent back against it and closed her eyes. The last 12 hours had been one inexplicable experience after another. Although she hoped the encounter with the Norn would be the last of it, her heart told her the wheel of fate had not yet finished with her this day.

~

As the Sun slowly rose towards the zenith Var stayed slumped against her bedroom door. Her mind drifting on a sea of exhaustion and confusion. Sitting there she dosed. For her whole life the adults around her had spoken of the clarity they had gained for the naming ceremony. The stories she had listened to told of a moment of absolute clarity and peace in which their place in the universe was as clear as the mountain streams that burbled outside the city limits. One of her fondest childhood memories was sitting at to father’s fine and listening to Odin recount Yggdrasil sending him on a quest to obtain Gungnir and prove his worthiness to replace Bor on the throne.

The thought of her father had Var pushing to her feet. That was it! Odin would be able to shed light on all that had happened recently.

With a course set, she hurried to her bathroom. It would not do to seek an audience with the king of Asgard in only a rumpled Canvas smock, even if he was her father.

~

Mid-afternoon light was throwing long shadows through the library’s windows when Var finally located her father. He was seated at an old wooden table in the rooms back corner, hidden from sight to anyone standing at the door. It was One of his lesser known escapes for when the palace was preparing for a big event, as the celebration of the Royal Twin’s naming day was sure to be. Var approached her father slowly. Of her parents she had always been closer to her mother, her father having always been too busy ruling to spend time with her and her siblings. The lack of time was only exacerbated by Var preferring more cerebral activities than physical.

“Father?” Var quietly broke his Concentration.

The Sovereign turned from the books and papers strewn across the dark, scarred wood. “Daughter what brings thee here?”

“I have need to speak with thee about my ceremony. It was not as I had expected.” She twisted one hand into the fabric of her dress.

“What is causing thee concern?” Odin took in the nervous twist to his daughter’s face, an expression he had never seen from her before.

“I was told my path was within the Nine Realms, but not the forces that would direct it.” It had been the most obscure part of the conservation.

Odin smiled at her. “That is true of us all child.”

“But is the ceremony not meant to bring light to our purpose? If it is true for us all, then how am I meant to move forward?” Var rocked back on her heels, this was not providing any more answers.

“It will in time.” Odin began to turn back to his work.

“But.” She wasn’t sure if she should tell him about Loki and Veroandi.

“Yes?” He turned back, a frown marring his rugged face.

“When I returned from the temple, Loki and Thor were waiting for me. Loki, he did not look himself.” She wasn’t sure how to explain what she had seen.

“The ceremony was as long a night for him as for thee. I would expect he might be out of sorts.”

“It was more than that. He was blue and had markings I have never seen before.” Var watched as a subtle change over took her father’s face. For a second too long shock and knowledge of what she was talking about flashed in his remaining eye. “You know something.”

“Var it is none of thy concern.” He tried to put her off. For so long they had been able to keep the secret. himself, Frigga, and her nurse, no one else knew that Loki was not their son, and only he and his wife knew Loki’s true parentage.

A flash of understanding came to her. Odin’s reluctance to answer spoke to something within her. Some glimmer of unease. “He is not truly my brother, is he?” She leveled the question calmly as her thoughts roiled in chaos. “Is he even Aesir? No, the blue skin and the timing of our birth, he is Jotunn isn’t he?” She could see the truth of her words reflected in his face. “Father, you must tell him the truth!”

“NO!” Finally, Odin stood. The word burst from deep in his chest, propelled by anger and fear. “I must do no such thing, and neither shall thee. I forbid it!” He loomed over her.

“I will not lie to him.” She stood her ground.

“Then thee shall not stay in Asgard.”

~

Odin, King of Asgard, Ruler of the Nine Realms curled, trembling in the corner of the bedchamber he shared with his wife. Sobs wracking his normally powerful form. He had no notion of how long he had been there when Frigga found him.

Frigga caught sight of him as she entered the room. “Beloved! Thee and Var are missed at the feast.” Closer the state her husband was in caused fear to curl like a lead weight in her chest. “What ails thee?” The Queen hurried across the rest of the grand room to her husband’s side.

“I banished her.” He whispered, horrified. “I banished our daughter.”

About to crouch beside him, Frigga stood back up in alarm.

“Why would you do such a thing? She is but a child still.” Frigga backed slightly away from her husband. He adored and doted on their youngest child, what could have happened that he would send her away from Asgard?

“She found out the truth about her brother. If she told him, all of the Norns work these long years would have been for naught.” The broken man looked up at his wife in despair. “All the lies we have told would be undone.” The king rumbled brokenly. “Loki can not know. They will hate and fear me for this betrayal, but without it Asgard will fall and our people would be better served if I had delivered them into death’s cold embrace myself than what would come for them.”

“Then they shall not know.” Even as she spoke, Frigga could feel her heart turning away from the man before her. For so long they had been happy together, against all expectations. She had accepted the lies about Loki, he had brought so much joy to their life, where was the harm? But to send Var away, as a wife and mother it was too much to ask. As a Queen it would need to be managed. “They shall be told she decided to follow in my foot steps and apprentice to the Norn. If those great ladies so wish this secret to be kept, they can assist with its keeping.” She turned away from Odin’s slumped form. Forms needed to be followed, and they would be.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to look me up I'm also on tumblr [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/quartzcelticas).


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